Adrian unraveled in private.
That was the only place he allowed it.
The office lights were off, city reflections carving long shadows across the glass. His jacket lay abandoned over a chair. His phone buzzed once ignored. Again dismissed.
He stood at the window, replaying the moment like a system error he couldn't debug.
The kiss hadn't been sloppy.
Hadn't been desperate.
That was the problem.
It had been mutual.
Adrian ran a hand through his hair, breathing out slowly. He'd miscalculated assumed tension was leverage, assumed proximity would tilt the balance back in his favor.
Instead, it had exposed something he despised admitting.
He hadn't won.
He'd lost composure.
That alone would have been manageable. What wasn't was the after how quiet she'd gone. How cleanly she'd stepped away. No drama. No reaction to exploit.
Nyra hadn't chased.
Hadn't punished.
Hadn't used it.
She'd closed the door.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
For the first time in years, control hadn't slipped because of chaos.
It slipped because someone else chose restraint.
Across the city, Nyra did exactly what she said she would.
She set boundaries and kept them boring.
No late meetings.
No hallway conversations.
No private calls.
At work, her tone stayed neutral. Professional. Impenetrable. She addressed Adrian the same way she addressed anyone elsenwith clarity and distance.
When he spoke in meetings, she didn't react.
When he walked past her desk, she didn't look up.
Not avoidance.
Finality.
Elias noticed by day two.
"That's new," he said quietly.
Nyra didn't ask what he meant. "Necessary."
"You sure you're not just repressing?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm choosing."
That was the difference.
Back in his office, Adrian noticed it everywherebthe absence. The lack of friction. The way his name no longer pulled her attention.
He'd expected backlash.
Instead, he got silence.
And silence didn't respond to pressure.
By the end of the week, Adrian realized something he hadn't prepared for:
He couldn't force proximity without breaking rules he'd built his entire life on.
And Nyra knew it.
She'd drawn the line where compliance stopped working.
That night, Adrian poured a drink and let it sit untouched.
Across the city, Nyra slept actually slept for the first time in days.
No overthinking.
No replaying.
No smoke on the balcony.
Just quiet.
Equal forces.
Opposite choices.
And for once
She was winning.